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Technical non-fiction with complex layout
Thread poster: Gareth Evans
Gareth Evans
Gareth Evans
United Kingdom
TOPIC STARTER
Thanks Dec 4, 2019

Samuel Murray wrote:

Gareth Evans wrote:
By the way, how did you make that table with my text?


1. Load the JPG into Abbyy FineReader 14. Let FineReader do it's magic (OCR). Since this was just for illustration, it didn't matter if the OCR introduced mistakes into the text, and I did not check if it did.
2. Copy the text into MS Word. (And hope that there aren't any text boxes!)
3. Select all text, and convert to a 1-column table (you may need to fiddle with the settings, or do some temporary find/replacing to deal with soft line breaks and tabs).
4. Reduce the width of the table to about half of the page, then add a second column using MS Word's usual method of adding columns to a table.

You'll notice that whole paragraphs end up in a single cell. This makes more sense to me because it would require fewer copy/paste actions for the client. However, if you tell a translator to create the table himself, you *might* get a table back in which every sentence is in a separate cell, depending on how the translator creates the table -- since CAT tools allow us to split paragraphs into sentences, and most CAT tools can then help one to save the text easily in a format that can be converted to a table.

If you find it hard to select and copy from such a table, simply highlight the source column (e.g. yellow), and then convert the table to text, with paragraphs breaks instead of tabs. That will put the translation underneath each piece of source text, and you can select text more easily.


[Edited at 2019-12-04 08:05 GMT]


Many thanks! I did as you advised from my Word file and have bookmarked this thread. I prefer your method. I thought I'd put a space between each paragraph or title to make it easier on the eye.

Table
https://postimg.cc/Jyg9BZv0

Converted back to text to check I got all translations next to their corresponding English
https://postimg.cc/XGK6SX1v


 
Gareth Evans
Gareth Evans
United Kingdom
TOPIC STARTER
Agree Dec 4, 2019

Andrzej Mierzejewski wrote:

Gareth Evans wrote:
For the flip camera one below, I see there is space for extra text in many places apart from the "Declaration of Conformity" box to the right. If translation made that paragraph 3 to 4 lines longer, what would one do?


In such case all you can do is try to make the translation shorter..., and shorter..., and even shorter. Just remove all unnecessary words. It's the translator's decision which words must remain, and which can be deleted without any harm to the clarity and comprehension of the text.

The last resort is: a smaller font size.

As to your book: if I were your translator, I'd use Samuel Murrays' solution with two columns. This method always facilitates the actual editor's job.

HTH

AM


Ah, interesting. It just occurred to me that's also what I do for some text on my website when making tablet and mobile versions for smaller screens and the layout shifts about. Usually at least a few words can be removed and still convey the same thing.

[Edited at 2019-12-04 16:40 GMT]


 
Gareth Evans
Gareth Evans
United Kingdom
TOPIC STARTER
One more question Dec 24, 2019

I've got another question. Thought I'd keep it on same thread rather than open a new one. Do song names such as the following, get translated from English to foreign languages?

Achy Breaky Heart (Billy Ray Cyrus)
Blowin’ in the Wind (Bob Dylan)
Love Me Do (The Beatles)
Wild Thing (The Troggs)

I would have thought not, on the basis that if translating the actual song, the lyrics would no longer fit rhythmically? Another way of me asking would be, when
... See more
I've got another question. Thought I'd keep it on same thread rather than open a new one. Do song names such as the following, get translated from English to foreign languages?

Achy Breaky Heart (Billy Ray Cyrus)
Blowin’ in the Wind (Bob Dylan)
Love Me Do (The Beatles)
Wild Thing (The Troggs)

I would have thought not, on the basis that if translating the actual song, the lyrics would no longer fit rhythmically? Another way of me asking would be, when you listen to the radio in your country how would the presenter introduce these songs?!
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Technical non-fiction with complex layout







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